For those of you who aren’t in Puerto Morelos right now, we thought we would share with you some photos of the new Chedraui supermarket that just opened on the port side of our little town. Here are a few photos that we took as we watched the building of the store progress.
It all began on what was once was a vacant lot, occasionally used to park cars, store old equipment or host giant mud puddles…

October 28, 2018

It quickly grew into this.

October 28, 2018: Westside of the building.

VACATION RENTALS

Construction of the store was completed in about six months. And if you are wondering how you get a project this big done so quickly, this pictures explains how; many, many workers.

November 2, 2018: Westside

November 2, 2018: Eastside

November 17, 2018

And soon the glass was going in.

November 20, 2018

And once the glass went in. All sorts of things starting show up inside, like these shopping carts.

November 24, 2018

And then the cash registers (just 6 of them).

November 24, 2018:

Followed by shelves.

November 26, 2018

Then the cafe started to take shape and workers started training.

November 28, 2018

As the big day approached.

November 28, 2018

And then only one day later than predicted, Puerto Morelos had its second Chedraui. A Chedraui Selecto. It is slightly smaller and a little fancier than the one on the highway. It features a smaller selection of groceries and produce than the other Chedraui. It appears to have a pretty good meat counter, decent wine selection, a cigar humidor and a fresh bakery.

Opening Day: November 30, 2018

There is a cafe with coffee and gelato. A place that makes custom sandwiches and a sushi counter. There is a cevicheria with ceviche and seafood. You can buy a bag of fresh popcorn or a hotdog. There is a special section that has a decent beer selection including craft and imports, plus you can have a glass of draft in the middle of the store!

There are no appliances, electronics or auto accessories. They have focused on beach-goers with sections selling coolers, sunscreens (including reef friendly ones) and beach toys. There is a small pharmacy.

It is located on the port side of town, half a block south of the square with access either Rojo Gomez or Rafael Malgar. Click here for a Google Map.

Opening Day: November 30, 2018

Open daily from 7:00 am to 11:00 pm.

It is nice to have the new Chedraui on the port side, but we will continue to support our local small businesses, like the Fruteria which was featured in this weeks SHOUT OUT.

Here’s a look inside from the evening of November 26. This appears to be the cafe area.

Just beyond the cafe is a sushi bar. To the right, you can see the cash registers…just six of them.

We’ve been worried about parking at the new store, as there are not many spots. There IS, however, very convenient parking for cyclists. This is just outside the front door.

More surprisingly perhaps, there is parking for your dog!

There is also special parking for folks who order online. It appears that you will order your stuff, park in the special spot, announce your arrival on the nearby intercom and they will bring your order.

Construction is also underway on several small shops on the east side of the building.

We talked to one of the bosses at the site and he was positive the store will open on UPDATE: Opened Friday morning. Details and pics coming soon.

There is lots of news from your town. For this post, we’re going to focus on the new Chedraui grocery store that should be open by the end of the year.

The store is being built just south of the square between the restaurants Al Chimichurri and Spaghettino. There was a very large vacant lot there that was used for parking in past years. The Chedraui will take the entire lot, so it will be accessible on foot from either Rojo Gomez or Rafael Melgar. By car, you will reach it from Rojo Gomez. (See the map below for more clarification)

This will be the main entrance from Rojo Gomez. Al Chimichurri is on the left side of the photo. The entrance is where you see the scaffolding. The parking area is on the right side of the photo. (Click any photo too see it full screen)

This is a side view from Rojo Gomez and the small parking area. We are told it will handle just 36 cars.

This is another view of the parking lot. To the right is the truck entrance. They have one dock to supply the store. It will be tricky to back a truck into, glad it is not my job.

This is a view of the store from the other side. Crews are building palapa roofs for what we assume are going to be small locales, spaces for small businesses.

Closer view of the locales

A big crew is working on the palapa. It looks like this will be another entrance on the northeast side of the store, right across from Las Palmeras restaurant.

Here’s a very rough drawing of where the new Chedraui will sit. That is the town square at the top of the photo. You can also see Pelicanos and their dock to the right.

We have been told that this will be a Chedraui “Select” store, so a little more fancy than the existing Chedraui on the highway. There are Chedraui Select stores already in Cancun, in the Hotel Zone and in Plaza Las Americas. They tend to have more import goods and also have cafes and restaurants inside. I have not been able to confirm any of this.

The store is going up very quickly, with a very big crew of workers, working long hours. They hope to be open by the end of November. That might be a bit optimistic, but with a big crew, a lot can be accomplished quickly.

We’ll have more updates from Puerto Morelos coming soon!

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We set out looking at liquor prices in both Cancun and Puerto Morelos thinking there would a big difference in prices between stores. We were surprised by what we found. We tried to pick items that were commonly found in most grocery or liquor stores here in Mexico and are the most popular to drink. All prices are in Mexican Pesos. To find out what items cost in your own currency convert here.

Bacardi White Rum

Price

Size in Litres

Price/Litre

Chedraui (in Puerto Morelos)

$ 289.00

1.75

$ 165.14

*Costco (in Cancun)

$ 249.00

1.75

$ 142.29

La Europea (in Puerto Morelos)

$ 170.00

0.98

$ 173.47

Off the Vine (in Puerto Morelos)

$ –

0

NA

*Sam’s Club (in Cancun)

$ 149.00

1.4

$ 106.43

Super Aki (in Puerto Morelos)

$ 169.00

0.98

$ 172.45

Wal-Mart (in Cancun)

$ 136.00

0.75

$ 181.33

Baileys Irish Cream

Price

Size in Litres

Price/Litre

Chedraui (in Puerto Morelos)

$ –

0

NA

*Costco (in Cancun)

$ 355.00

1

$ 355.00

La Europea (in Puerto Morelos)

$ 308.00

0.75

$ 410.67

Off the Vine (in Puerto Morelos)

$ 307.00

0.75

$ 409.33

*Sam’s Club (in Cancun)

$ 340.00

1

$ 340.00

Super Aki (in Puerto Morelos)

$ 289.00

0.75

$ 385.33

Wal-Mart (in Cancun)

$ –

0

NA

43 (Liquor)

Price

Size in Litres

Price/Litre

Chedraui (in Puerto Morelos)

$ 445.00

0.75

$ 593.33

*Costco (in Cancun)

$ 369.00

0.75

$ 492.00

La Europea (in Puerto Morelos)

$ 415.00

0.75

$ 553.33

Off the Vine (in Puerto Morelos)

$ –

0

NA

*Sam’s Club (in Cancun)

$ –

0

NA

Super Aki (in Puerto Morelos)

$ 405.00

0.75

$ 540.00

Wal-Mart (in Cancun)

$ –

0

NA

Controy

Price

Size in Litres

Price/Litre

Chedraui (in Puerto Morelos)

$ –

0

NA

*Costco (in Cancun)

$ 125.00

1

$ 125.00

Off the Vine (in Puerto Morelos)

$ –

0

NA

La Europea (in Puerto Morelos)

$ 141.00

1

$ 141.00

*Sam’s Club (in Cancun)

$ 125.00

1

$ 125.00

Super Aki (in Puerto Morelos)

$ –

0

NA

Wal-Mart (in Cancun)

$ –

0

NA

Centenario Gold Tequila

Price

Size in Litres

Price/Litre

Chedraui (in Puerto Morelos)

$ 205.00

0.7

$ 292.86

(white)

*Costco (in Cancun)

$ –

0

NA

Off the Vine (in Puerto Morelos)

$ 260.00

0.98

$ 265.31

La Europea (in Puerto Morelos)

$ 250.00

1

$ 250.00

*Sam’s Club (in Cancun)

$ 205.00

0.95

$ 215.79

Super Aki (in Puerto Morelos)

$ –

0

NA

Wal-Mart (in Cancun)

$ 235.00

0.9

$ 261.11

All Prices are in Mexico Pesos
*Membership required
NA (not available in this store at the time of our visit)

As you can see Sam’s Club came out as the clear winner as far as best price goes. This was surprising to us as we have always shopped at Costco in Cancun for our liquor, thinking it was cheaper. But the question is “Would it be worth it to go all the way to Cancun?” We guess it depends on how long you are staying or more important how much you are drinking. If you are already a Sam’s Club member, and are staying for more than a few weeks, the trip to Cancun may be worth it.

Of the local liquor stores the one thing we did notice was the variety of products they carried. Super Aki in the colonia did tend to have low prices generally, but they have a small selection of items. Chedraui had a larger selection, but tended to run out of a lot of the basics because they are a very busy store. Off The Vine, on the port side, also had a few liquors to offer. Their speciality is wine and they are a great place to stop if you are looking for a nice bottle of red, they know their stuff! The real gem was La Europea, which many people may not know about. It is located at the Pemex on Calle Jose Maria Morelos, the road which stretches between the port and the colonia. They are tucked to one side inside the Go Mart. They may not have the cheapest prices, but they consistently have a good selection of items in stock.